3rd House Quidditch: GRYFFINDOR vs. SLYTHERIN: 15th-20th September

[Slytherin Captain and Chaser]

Gemma was sleeping like a stone after a week full of homework and just general annoyances. It was because of this that she hadn't heard the alarm, even as its volume increased to the level of an angry Hippogriff stomping beside her bed. She'd just turned in her soft, warm bed and continued dreaming until her body felt fit enough to allow her to stop sleeping.

"BEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

"Huh? Where am I? What's going on? Don't curse me, I've got a match today."

It was usual for her to babble senseless stuff right after waking up, but as she realized the word Quidditch had escaped her mouth, she set her mind to work finally. So did she have a game today? Would she need to be on the pitch? She looked upwards, where she had wisely pinned a calendar to the bed's canopy, and bolted up at the shock of seeing bright red words. Quidditch. Gryffindor. CAPTAIN!

Having barely avoided hitting her head on a bed post during her sudden jumping up, she was already racing over to the chair on which she'd laid out her Quidditch clothes the evening before. She didn't even take time to make sure she'd gotten out the right things, she just wriggled into the pair of trousers and a top, snatching the sweater in one hand and some candy in the other, and then she ran.

You could say she ran as if her life depended on it, but in some way it did - which was the reason why the smell of food in the Great Hall didn't draw her attention for even one second. She skipped up the stairs, mumbling something about the idiocy of dorms in the dungeons, out of the huge doors, and along the path to the Pitch. On her way, she roughly pulled the sweater on with every hope of not falling to the floor due to momentary blindness. She was that lucky and slowed down only when she reached the locker. She hadn't had the time to notice the nervous butterflies in her stomach before, and now that she felt them she gave her best to keep on ignoring them.

Hey, it's nothing special. You were just appointed a new position because someone else needed a rest...and it isn't that bad. You can do it! Even if your wif-

Slamming the door to the locker room hard she cut off the thought. Not good to consider that now, not at all. Instead Gemma opened her locker and rushedly grabbed her Quidditch robes and equipment. She shrugged into it unbotheredly, put her hair into the normal rather messy bun and stuffed the candy into the various pockets of her slightly altered clothing (though not before she'd had taken the time to pour some pixie sticks' contents down her throat). With a deep, sigh-like breath, she pinned the shiny Captain badge above her chest and gave it a thoughtful glance. What wouldn't she have given to wear it a few months ago...

Once more she slammed a door to stop reminiscing, only this time it was the one to the pitch. She was positive she hadn't made it in time, so her surprise was rather great as she noticed only two Gryffindors were there along with Bella from her own team, and no balls were to be seen. She didn't understand that at all, but brushed it off since it wasn't a bad thing at all.

"Hey Bells, nice to see somebody's around already. I'm really sorry I didn't make it any earlier, I could swear some Gryff slipped me a sleeping potion...Anyway, what's it with this match? Shouldn't it have started a while ago?"

She was talking to the beater she had flown over to after having mounted her broom and pushed off the grass. Obviously the girl took her role seriously, as she was out there and warming up earlier then her Captain. Mentally slapping herself for the destructive mood, Gemma looked around and noticed that for once, it didn't look as if it was going to rain any second. It was rather pleasant, as a matter of fact, a slight breeze playing with fallen leaves on the ground and the sun shining. Idyllic. Probably.

She shook her head. Why couldn't the match begin already? She wanted to get something done, but she could hardly fly away in a half-hearted warm-up move before she'd have heard the answer of her teammate. She was stuck waiting, and therefore came to the conclusion she might as well practice some move on the spot.

The Reverse Snake was the first she thought of, somewhat similar to the Sloth Grip Roll however including letting go of the broomstick with one's hand and dangling only by one's legs wrapped securely around it. Unlike the original Roll, this was used to catch a flying Quaffle or even to cause confusion rather than to avoid anything. When it came to getting back up, it was accordingly harder, which meant it needed quite some practice. Perfect.

She let go without carefulness and felt her body falling to the side fast, it swung a litte, then she hung unmoved. The wind blew her hair into her face, not caring about rules such as gravity, contrary to her blood. She felt it streaming to her head, gathering in her cheeks and making her feel dizzy after a while. A weird sound began to block out the talk from the Spectators Stands, and light dots danced in front of the sky. She knew it was about time she got herself upright again, but the whole thing was eerily peaceful. Debussy's Claire de Lune flashed into her mind, and she smiled strainedly. Everything would be alright.

She bent upwards with some effort from her abs, making her hands be closer to the handle but not grabbing it, and pushed her torso to the side. Now she needed to gain momentum, she swung herself from side to side, and then the moment was there. A second of another rush and she was sitting upright again, having her broom turned along with her. The blood left her head faster than it had come, and she had to blink for normal vision. The fuzziness vanished and left only a slight dizziness, more enjoyable. She looked around again and spotted Bella.

Ooops. Well, hopefully she hasn't tried to answer my questions when I was still down there.
Now when will this game finally start?

[Slytherin Captain and Chaser]

With all the waiting for an answer, Gemma had done what she'd always been best out - she zoned out. In her own happy world with flashy, bright colours and sweet music, nothing from the outside would be noticed. Useful to no end at times, but definitely not in a Quidditch match - yet it was the unavoidable effect of sugar consumption. Yelling woke her from the trance, and she looked around in confusion, just barely seeing a blur of green rising onto the pitch. While green was generally a good sign, she did wish she knew what was happening there.

Sudden movement on the ground cleared the issue up for the girl, as she saw the referee Amy head to the far end of the pitch. Obviously the game had finally started, and by now the green thing was also a lot slower and she figured it out to be Violet, her fellow teammate and Chaser. Said Slytherin was looking a bit lost with the Quaffle in her arm, moving towards the goal posts at low speed. Gemma decided to go for teamwork and sped up to cross the gap between herself and the other.

"Hey Vi, good to finally see another Chaser out here. And nice you went for that Quaffle so thoughtfully, I'd totally have missed out on grabbing it. So what do you think, time to come up with some move? I'm sure we'd manage to get our shiny friend here past the Gryff Keeper, from what I've heard she only started in that position last match!"

Dangerously close to babbling, she decided to shut her mouth. This wasn't one of her wifeys who'd be able to understand her gibberish if she went on and on, so she needed to control herself to have it be a good team. Coming to the conclusion that quick thinking was worth a lot more than fast talking, she focused on chosing a move they could pull off together.

Hmm, Bella could surely help us, she's one good beater and could distract Lion girl over there....then again, that'd be too predictable, wouldn't it? I wonder whether we could try that new Deceiving Deity move we were talking about a while ago. Why shouldn't we, actually?

She'd made up her mind for the time being, and it truely was an interesting move to pull of, so she suggested it to Violet and hoped Bella'd pick up on it if they did it. Grinning, she settled on her broom and waited for response, this time determined to stay in the here and now during doing so. To make sure she didn't drift off too far with her thoughts, she stretched out both arms and tried some balancing, shifting her hips here and there to stay upside down. Yeah, today was a day for risks...

[Slytherin Chaser]

Gemma tried hard not to grin as she realized Violet seemed to approve of her plan. Apparently, she didn't have a problem with the little catch of their move, and she was positively anxious to see the new move put into effect. At fairly euqal speed, she followed behind her teammate. But as she heard her mumbling about the annoying following, she scowled. Maybe teamwork wasn't something working too well here. Yet she brushed off the negative thought and just stuck to her path of flying, gripping her lovely broom.

I do hope our sly Vi confuses Keepy Girl over there, even though she does look rather suspicious with that alert watching us. Well, doesn't matter I guess, it's not like she could make anything of it. Man, we're just too cunning for this world....

Another hidden grin and she noticed the second Chaser stopping in front of the goal posts, swaying from side to side and then backing up again. It looked rather indecisive, and Gemma concluded that the idea of being able to pull it off all on her own didn't appeal to her as much any longer - of course she'd never had had it, in the first place, or had she? Not that it did count now, this was a team thingy and she'd not ruin the DD with her thoughtfulness.

She lowered herself onto the broom handle, lying almost flat, and trusty Steed shot forward. Okay, that wasn't exactly inconspiciuous, but still the easiest way to move fast, and she needed that now. Maybe she could 'convince' Violet to not act all selfish, cough cough. After a matter of moments, she'd reached her destined position a short distance away from the goal hoops, a little to the side as well. From there, the sun was more annoying, but the new outlook also revealed to her the approaching Gryff Chaser, nearing as if to knock her fellow Slytherin from her broom by sheer force.

"Vi, watch out! Body Bludger approaching! Toss that damn thing, noooww!"

She didn't indicate anything about where to toss the Quaffle, though, for she hoped June would guess she meant the hoops, while she naturally meant to her, Gemma. Such was the nature of the Deceiving Deity, after all, make one Chaser look all selfish and have the other near the hoops. Throw so it confuses the Keeper, no matter who scores actually, but better looking if Chaser 1 aimed at the hoop, threw slighty off aim to Chaser 2, whom'd then score before the Keeper'd understand. Ah, how she loved the advantages of sleepless nights to come up with strategies and moves...